If you have not already done so, please read the first chapter of the assigned textbook Careers in the Media. Once you have completed the chapter, which is an overview of the media industry landscape, consult the Table of Contents and find the chapters most relevant to your internships and to your careers (they might be the same chapter but it doesn’t have to be). Interspersed throughout the book are Personal Profiles where professionals describe their career paths and trajectories. Read a few of these, even if they are not directly related to your chosen career and current internship, as they provide useful background information and tips on how to find a permanent position. Once you’ve completed this part of the assignment, take a look at the Appendix B, which lists a number of helpful employment websites.

After doing the reading and reviewing the job search web sites, write an action plan for the next steps in your career based upon what you learned from the textbook and your own experiences. If you are graduating soon, what should you prioritize for the rest of the year in order to find a permanent full time position in the field? If you have a year or more before your graduate, what steps should you take to best position yourself to be successful and find an opportunity when you do graduate?

Please be as specific as possible and consider the following: what research will you need to do on companies in the field? How might you improve and enhance your resume? What might comprise a networking strategy that might help you find openings? Consider this part of the assignment to be a blueprint for the action plan that you will actually initiate before and upon graduation. (You may use numbers or bullet points as long as you have detail and complete sentences).

Once again, please to comment upon each other’s response and provide insight and feedback.

Please post your answers in the comment section that follows this post.

Being that I’m graduating next semester, in the spring of 2017, it’s probably a good idea to start thinking of a good action plan to put into practice once I graduate. The truth however, is that I’ve actually been trying to put a plan in place since I started this semester.
I have a friend who was an intern for inside edition in the spring of 2016, and they hired her as a full time staff member the summer right after she graduated. When I heard the news, I was will with pride and joy for her, but alos a little but of jealousy on my part for as I would have loved to be in her position. However, once I landed an internship at the same company, Inside Edition, and began talking to more and more people, it became clear that they hire many of their interns to come on as full time staffers when positions become available. This makes a lot of sense, as I’d rather hire somebody I know who is a good worker and has a good relationship with everybody, as opposed to some random person I haven’t met before.
So immediately when I got this position I really understood the importance of networking, making good impressions, and overall being as hardworking and proactive as possible so that hopefully, sometime in the near future, if a position becomes available, they’ll think of me first. I had hoped that I could have stayed at the same place through the spring semester, but alas, they like to hire new interns every semester so that everybody gets a fair shot, which makes a lot of sense.
However, this same mindset has also pushed me forward when scouring the internet for other internships for next semester. I’ve been lucky enough to already receive a few emails and even a phone interview already. The most awkward part of any interview, for me at least, is at the end when they ask if I have any questions for them. I also find it really hard to come up with a good question because either the interviewer or the internship classifieds pages are always extremely thorough and I feel like any topic I need clarification on has already been covered. However, being that I’m graduating, I have the opportunity to ask “is there opportunity for growth in a position like this” which I think makes me sound way more mature, proactive, and dedicated than I’ve ever sounded before. It also gives me a quick answer as to how likely it is that one of my final internships can lead into a job.
But in the long run, those are both somewhat small things. So my semi-long term action plan, that is written in the third person since, essentially I’m talking to future Ed, is this:
1. Land an awesome internship at a company that has good opportunities for growth; This will most likely, but is not limited to, being somewhere in their web department. The goal is to get an internship in the web video or photo division of the team
a. Make extremely good impressions, and network your ass off, while also taking the time to familiarize yourself with the technology use. Continue to improve upon your skills in Avid Media Composer and especially Premiere, as many progressive companies are transitioning to premiere
b. Express interest in working at whichever company you get hired! Good things come to those who ask
2. If, unfortunately, this internship doesn’t lead to anything, that’s okay. It still gives you something to round out your resume. Make sure to apply to as many summer internships as possible, and specifically smaller production companies, or companies with newly expanding web bases, as this will be the last chance you get to make your way into a company on the intern level, which allows for the most flexibility, learning, and potential to lead into another job.
a. Make sure to express interest again in working at that company
3. If, again, that doesn’t pan out, then luck has not been on your side buddy. But that’s okay! There are still ways of getting into the field. By now, you probably have secured a back up job just to make money, as an uber or taxi driver. This is smart, because it allows you the flexibility to go on job interviews, and work on personal projects, while making a little extra money
4. At this point you should be searching every major networks, production companies, any websites listed in “careers in media’s” job listing page. Send out your resume to ALL of them, and check your email regularly to make sure you don’t miss anything
5. Make sure to reach out to the connections you’ve made at the different companies you’ve interned for, to keep in touch, as well as to see if they have any job openings. Also call your cousin and see if she knows of any job openings where she works in LA. Though it would be a far move, she’s a great connection to have and if she can get you a job, you’d be completely set. Just persevere and just keep applying! Eventually something will stick. You just have to keep trying, one more thing, one more time.

So yeah. That’s basically my plan for success. I think that the most optimistic path I can be on will be getting a job out of an internship, which is what I’m really hoping for. However, if it ends up not working out, I have some contingency plans that hopefully will lead to a good entry level jobs so that I can work my way up. A lot of it relies on not thinking too far ahead, so for now, I’ll just continue to focus on all the things I can do right now that may help land me a job in the future.

2.
Rachel Olshin | November 4th, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Since I am graduating in the spring, this internship has been very important for my potential career in production. Working at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is really like a dream internship, everyone is really friendly and open, and it’s such an exciting show and time to work on it. It is only a fall internship, and even though I believe they are pleased with my work (I guess my evaluation will be the moment of truth), they do not normally ask interns to stay on for another semester. So I am trying to find another internship for next semester, this one paid, and I have already had a few interviews and am waiting to hear back. I believe that securing a paid internship on another show or network can help secure me to a PA position after college. Of course, that is depended on if I get an internship. It’s scary because you can get an incredible internship one semester, and not get anything the next, and not because you aren’t good, just because somebody else is better or luckier. While I am very grateful for my Queens College education, it’s frustrating to see many of my fellow interns who are in Tisch get certain internship opportunities (i.e. Last Week Tonight had a paid internship only for Tisch students), that I do not. The research I have been doing about companies in the field are primarily focused on the places where I am applying, and how their network/show works. I would like to meet with a career-guidance counselor or an advisor at the Media Studies department to go over my Resume, but I think in production, people are impressed by the name Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. I am also trying to figure out my Plan B if I do not get an internship for the spring, of ways I can keep working towards my career. If anybody has any ideas, please send my way! I am definitely trying to create connections, collect emails from people I worked with here to stay in touch after I leave. I have been doing similar things at my previous internship Great Performances.

The following comment was posted in the First Blog entry. Just pasting it here in the correct location.

I was asked to come back for the Spring semester at my internship with Madison Square Garden. Originally it was just for September-December but my supervisor asked me to stay through May based on the good job I’ve done so far. I feel extremely excited about that and accomplished but I know that I am not done in my pursuit of a full-time job.
From the book I’ve learned that there are opportunities in the Media field but it is up to the person to go out there and make it happen for themselves. I learned to understand trends in Media and because of this I have noticed the decline in Broadcast Television and Radio (my original interest) and have set my focus on Advertising and Public Relations. I plan to continue to network with the Public Relations department while at my internship and to build relationships with the people within the department.
I have come across an opening in the Public Relations department at MSG and I plan on applying as soon as possible. One goal I set on was updating my resume. Thanks to the Career Development and Internships program at Queens College my resume is polished. It emphasizes my major and the courses I’ve taken where as my previous resume simply listed my previous jobs.
I have studied the Madison Square Garden directory and have familiarized myself with the Public Relations Department at Madison Square Garden. With my updated resume and networking I plan to apply to the entry level opening and see what happens front there. In the meantime I will continue to do my job and finish up my last semester at Queens College (Spring 2017).